Bench-clearing incidents typically resolve themselves without any real escalation. But on Sunday, we saw a new way to keep the peace at baseball games. Just bring in the tarp!It had been raining on and off for much of Sunday in Cleveland. And as the game went into the sixth inning, the Guardians were hoping to play through it with Gavin Williams working on a perfect game. Tensions boiled over a bit, though, when Tim Tawa attempted to break one of baseball's unwritten rules. Tawa showed bunt and fouled off a 96 mph fastball. And immediately after the foul ball, catcher Patrick Bailey had words for Tawa about trying to break up a perfect game on a bunt. Tawa would single (on a full swing) the next pitch. Both Bailey and Rocchio take exception to Tim Tawa trying to break up a perfect game with a bunt pic.twitter.com/ETQcNKyKrY McNeil (@REFLOG18) August 2, 2026Williams would face three more batters until crew chief Lance Barksdale had to call in for the tarp. But as the rain delay was getting underway, the Guardians were still fuming over the bunt attempt. It led to this: Benches cleared as the two teams exchanged words. But before the confrontation could even get out of hand, the umps explained that the tarp needed room to cover the infield. And just like that, the teams left the scene and went to their clubhouses. But hey, that's a trick to end any brawl: Just call for the tarp. Problem solved. This article originally appeared on For The Win: The Guardians' tarp hilariously broke up a bench-clearing incident with the D-backs